‘What?’
Talon attempted to frame his thoughts. After a long silence, in which the two young men sat looking at one another while the porters engaged in a loud discussion in the background, Talon leaned forward and said, ‘Among the Orosini our mates are selected for us by our parents. I have no parents, and I do not know about Lela’s parents—’
Caleb interrupted. ‘You’re thinking about marriage?’
Talon blinked as if surprised to hear it put that way, but at last he nodded. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
Caleb said softly, ‘Talk to Robert.’
Talon nodded.
Caleb then said, ‘But I must warn you, I don’t think it’s going to happen, even should Lela be willing, which I don’t think she is.’
‘But she loves me!’ Talon said, just loud enough to cause two of the porters to turn and regard him. With a laugh and a rude remark, they returned to their own conversation.
‘As I said, I am no expert on women, Talon. But this you must know. You are not the first lad to warm Lela’s bed.’
‘I knew that,’ said Talon.
Caleb sat back as if considering his words. After a moment, he said, ‘What passes between a man and a woman is their own business. But I will tell you this. You know men who have been in Lela’s arms.’
Talon blinked, as if he hadn’t considered this. ‘Gibbs?’ Caleb nodded. ‘Lars?’ Again Caleb nodded.
Talon said, ‘But Lars is with Meggie.’
‘Now, but they fall out as often as not; Meggie is no one’s idea of a summer festival. She has qualities, but she can be a difficult woman.’
‘But that’s not right,’ said Talon.
‘Talon, it’s not a question of right or wrong. It’s the way it is. Among your people, your mates are selected and you can go through life knowing only one woman, but here …’ He sighed. ‘It’s different.’
Talon appeared distressed.
Caleb said, ‘You should know that I have been with Lela.’
Talon looked shocked. ‘You!’
‘Last Midsummer, on the day Pasko and Robert found you, she and I drank too much ale and ended up spending the night together. And she has done the same with a few handsome travellers, as well.’
Talon looked as if his world was falling in on him. ‘Is she … what is that word?’
‘What word?’
‘A woman who lies with men for money.’
‘A whore,’ supplied Caleb. ‘No, my young friend, she is not. But she is a healthy girl who likes men, and she’s from a land where people don’t think twice about lying with one another for amusement.’
Talon felt an empty pit form in his stomach. ‘It’s not right,’ he muttered.
Caleb said, ‘Go and wash your hands.’ He waved towards the door into the kitchen. ‘The food will be here in a moment. Just remember that in most things, right or wrong depends on where you’re standing at the moment. My father’s people would have thought having your life’s mate picked out for you by your parents to be … well, barbaric.’ As Talon’s expression started to darken, Caleb added, ‘No offence intended, but I’m pointing out that things look the way they do because that is how you were taught as a child. And the rest of the world is vastly different to what a child can imagine. Now, go and wash.’
Talon stood up and made his way past the bar and into the kitchen. There he discovered familiar sights. Angelica and Ella were working alongside two others: a man who must be Jacob’s father, given their resemblance, and another man, who was obviously the cook. Talon found a bucket and soap and had a wash. When he looked up, he found that Ella was giving him a sidelong glance of appraisal.
He ventured a tentative smile and wiped his hands upon a cloth hung next to the bucket. Although she had affection for Caleb, she seemed to be looking at him in a disquieting way. He left the kitchen and returned to where Caleb was waiting. He sat down and looked at the man he had considered to be a friend; yet he had been with the woman Talon loved! How was he supposed to feel now?
Finally, Talon let out a long sigh and said, ‘I will never understand women.’
Caleb laughed and said, ‘Welcome to the brotherhood, my friend.’
Early the next day, Caleb started his rounds of the city. Five or six times a year, Kendrick had specific goods shipped out to the steading, including wheat flour, rice, sugar and honey, and seasonal items. But twice a year a special list was prepared and someone had to go into the city to purchase those particular items. Often it was Kendrick himself, but this time Caleb had elected to go.
After the third shop had been visited, Talon was beginning to understand why. Caleb seemed to possess a knack for negotiations. He could sense when a merchant was ready to accept a lower price, or when he was at his limit. As they walked down the street to the next shop, Talon asked, ‘How do you know?’
‘How do I know what?’
‘When to stop arguing over the price?’
Caleb dodged aside as a small band of urchins came racing down the street towards them, followed a moment later by an angry merchant. ‘There are things to watch for. It’s the same when you gamble or if you’re trying to see if a man is lying.’
‘What things?’
Caleb said, ‘Many things, but let’s start with the more obvious ones. The expression. The spice trader, this morning, for example, was pleased to see a customer. His face mirrored genuine delight at our arrival.’
‘How could you tell?’
‘The moment you enter a shop, watch the man’s face. Most merchants will pause for a brief instant to see who calls upon them. In that moment, you’ll see a truth. It takes a while to learn, but you’ll soon discover for yourself the difference between a man who’s genuinely pleased to see a customer and one who is feigning pleasure. The first needs to sell you something, while the second may or may not.
‘There are many other truths buried behind a false smile, a proffered wish for good health or a claim that a price is too low or too high. For the time being, just watch the men with whom I deal, not me, and see what you see.’
Talon watched throughout the day and after each bargaining session, he would ask questions. Slowly, he began to understand a little of what Caleb meant, that there were telltale signs to be seen if one had the patience to look for them.
A little after midday they reached a small market near the eastern wall of the city and wended their way through the stalls of merchants offering food, clothing, live poultry, jewellery, tools, weapons, even a broker for mercenary guards. The shoppers looked different to the people who populated the rest of the city and Talon felt a stab of recognition. For a brief instant he thought he was among his own people! The men wore tattoos upon their faces, although the markings were unfamiliar. They wore fur over-jackets, not unlike those worn by the Orosini, and they travelled in groups that included children and the elderly.
He heard speech that was tantalizingly familiar, peppered here and there with words that he recognized. He put out his hand and halted Caleb, who turned to see what was wrong. Noting the expression of concentration upon Talon’s face, Caleb said nothing but waited as Talon strained to make sense of what he heard.
After a few moments of listening to a man speaking with a woman whom Talon took to be his wife, he realized he understood the speech, even though it was heavily accented and contained several strange words and phrases. Leaning close to Caleb he asked in low tones, ‘Who are these people?’
Caleb motioned for Talon to follow him and as he moved away from the couple of strangers, he replied, ‘These are the Orodon. They live on the other side of a mountain range to the north. They are distant kin to the Orosini, though they are plainsmen and fishermen of the deep oceans, not mountain people. They have villages, but no cities, so each winter many of them journey south and in the early spring come here to the market in Latagore. There are traders who also put in at coastal villages up and down the land of the Orodon regularly.’
‘Why have I not heard of them?’
Caleb shrugged. ‘You would have to ask someone who is now dead – your father or grandfather. Once all these lands belonged to your ancestors, Talon. Men from the south, city men, moved northwards and pushed your people up into the mountains, and the Orodon to the north. The nations to the south are all related to the nation of Roldem, which is why that language is spoken throughout these kingdoms.’
Talon glanced over his shoulder as they left the open market and walked down another street. ‘I would like to know more of these people.’
‘Magnus will be thrilled,’ Caleb said. ‘He has a particular bent for history and will be happy to teach you. It bores me, I’m afraid.’
They reached an inn, the sign of which showed a man in footman’s livery running after a departing coach. ‘The Running Footman,’ said Caleb. ‘In which we’ll find our friend Dustin Webanks.’
